A/N: This is a plot bunny that refused to get out of my head until I jotted it down. I don't plan to continue it, but if more ideas stick in my head, I may embellish upon this idea a bit. So, for now, this is a oneshot. Don't worry, I'm still working on Rememory! I've got plenty more Merlin whump to write.

Arthur was in such a rush to get Merlin out of there that he tried to do it himself. He pulled him out, not stopping for any sounds of pain, and ended up losing his momentum. He fell to the ground still holding on. Now they were both sitting, Merlin pulled against the king's chest.

"Merlin!" The blond huffed. Seeing the gag, he reached up to untie it. When it came off, Merlin took a deep breath. Those terrible muffled coughs and desperate wheezes abated as soon as he could breathe. But when Arthur reached up to undo the blindfold, the boy jerked. He kicked against the ground, struggling to get away, but he only pressed himself further into Arthur's hold.

"Woah, woah!" The king exclaimed. As soon as he took hold of the squirming boy's shoulders, Merlin stilled with a whimper. "I'm just trying to help you."

"What is the meaning of this? You can't keep me out of my own chambers!" The count's voice boomed as he began to enter the room. The guards blocked his path, but not before Merlin heard him and turned his head into Arthur's shoulder, curling in on himself in an attempt to hide. Arthur looked over at the commotion, then down at Merlin, then back once more.

"You." The king's expression darkened. "Take him to the dungeons."

He expected the man to yell, to defend his position, but there was no fight from him. The count just smiled coldly. "I'm not the one who belongs in a box."

Arthur felt Merlin shudder, and it was all he could do to hold him rather than bolt up and run that sick bastard through.

"Alright," The blond said calmly. "Hey, can you hear me?"

Merlin nodded meekly, still pressed into the king's chest.

"I'm going to untie your arms."

Arthur leaned to the right to see behind the servant's back. There were two points of wound rope - at the elbows, pulled together and held painfully in place, forcing his shoulders forward. At least his sleeves protected from chafing here. The rope around his wrists was perhaps crueler - the skin there was raw and darkly bruised, and dried blood stained the rope. Arthur took a dagger offered by a guard and began diligently cutting away the bindings. As soon as they fell away, Merlin gasped in pain. He didn't pull his arms forward, he just tried to relax his shoulders. At first, Arthur thought he was keeping one jutting out in some gesture of discomfort, but he soon realized that Merlin couldn't control its position - the joint was dislocated. The blond winced when he remembered Merlin's sound of pain as he'd been pulled out of the box by his shoulders.

"Better?"

The boy nodded again. Arthur tried to help him pull his arms in front of him, but Merlin gasped and shook his head. The blond removed his hands instantly and watched as Merlin slowly, painstakingly brought his left arm around front. Once he'd done that, he reached around and moved the injured arm until he could cradle it against his heaving chest.

"Can you walk?"

Merlin just ducked his head. He was still struggling to breathe. Arthur knew it was likely he couldn't stand, let alone walk - heat was radiating from his skin, sweat dampening his tunic. Even as Arthur considered illness to be the cause, Merlin was overcome with a violent coughing fit. His frame was wracked with wheezes and hacking, which quickly grew weak and died out. A small sound of distress escaped his throat as his chest kept convulsing, but he didn't have the strength to expel the air from his lungs. Arthur rubbed circles on the boy's back until he could get his breathing under control again.

"I'll help you. We'll go to Gaius and you can get some rest. But I need to ask some questions first."

Again, Arthur's expectations were wrong. He was sure Merlin would flinch, or shake his head, or just ignore him. Clearly, he was in a lot of pain and his stress had him on the verge of tears. But he nodded, pulling himself upright with a shaky breath. Arthur placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Did the count do this to you?"

"The-" Merlin's voice cracked. It was rough and hushed. "The count?"

Arthur nodded, then realized Merlin couldn't see him. "Yes. Count Lefay. The man who was just arrested in the corridor."

Merlin made a sound of understanding, then nodded.

"Did anyone else help him, hurt you?"

Merlin opened his mouth, then closed it. "I don't know." His voice was small. "I-I couldn't see."

Arthur felt his gut twist despite his efforts to remain an impartial king. "How long has this blindfold been on?"

"Never off," Merlin said immediately. "Never take it off. Not allowed to see."

Arthur looked up at Leon, who was staring at the raven-haired boy with horror in his eyes.

"What did he want? Why did he do this?"

Merlin nodded, seemingly expecting this question. "Secrets. He wanted to know Camelot's defenses, her weaknesses. Your weaknesses. He wanted..." He hesitated. "Wanted me to agree to... to kill you. With poison, or by selling your plans to your enemies." His voice was scarcely more than a whisper by the end.

He was sorry to ask, but it was of top priority to know the damage done. "What did you tell him?"

Merlin shook his head. "Nothing."

Arthur blanched, glancing up at Leon before looking once more at the blindfolded boy. "What do you mean?"

Even behind the wide, thick cloth hiding the servant's eyes, Arthur could tell his brows furrowed a bit.

"I- nothing. I said no." An involuntary shudder ran along his form. "When he asked those things."

"No." The blond said. "I don't believe it."

Merlin's breathing picked up. "I said no. I swear I did." The boy tilted his head. "He didn't like it. Even if I was quiet, and I didn't pull away, he said I was bad. A-and when he made me talk... I lied." He pulled his arms tighter around his torso. "He didn't like that either."

"Merlin..." Arthur was at a loss for words. "How... you didn't tell him anything? In all that time?"

The servant shook his head.

"How's he doing?" Arthur asked, peeking into the room around the physician.

Gaius shook his head. "He's strong. His bones are healing and the bruises should fade soon. And, thank the stars, that terrible cough is near gone. The sickness was my main concern." He nodded solemnly. "But now, after all of his wounds have been tended and he has gotten some food and rest, my concerns have shifted. I need to check on his eyes."

Arthur looked in and saw Merlin lying on his cot. It was not clear whether he was asleep or awake, as the blindfold was still wrapped securely around his head.

"I'm not sure why, but he refuses to let me touch it. If you don't mind, sire, I could use your help in the matter."

"Of course," Arthur replied easily. If Merlin could sacrifice life and limb to protect Camelot's secrets, the least he could do was talk to him. He entered the chambers, nodding to Gaius before he approached the cot. Merlin sat up gingerly as the king approached.

"Arthur," He said softly.

"How did you know?" The blond replied, impressed.

"No one else stomps around like that."

Arthur was about to reply with a cocky retort, but it died on his lips. The half-joke was not spoken with a smile. It was a small attempt to make him more comfortable, but he should be careful with how he spoke to the servant.

"Right. Well. What's all this about your eyes?" Alright, maybe he could have been a bit less blunt about it, but subtlety wasn't exactly what he was known for.

Merlin turned his head to the side a little. After a moment of silence, he shrugged.

Arthur almost rolled his eyes at the dismissal. "Gaius needs to check on them. Don't you want to see?"

Merlin deflated a bit. He picked at the edge of his blanket absently. "Doesn't feel right."

"Well, that's probably because the count wouldn't let you do it. But he's gone."

Merlin winced at the mention of the man who'd made him this way. "I know." He gave a lopsided shrug.

Arthur walked around the cot. "Why not just take it off, and-" When he touched the knot of the cloth, Merlin bolted away, falling to the floor. He backed up to the wall.

"Merlin!" Gaius and Arthur cried in unison. They both rushed to help him up, but at the sound of their approach, the boy pulled his knees up to his chest and threw his arms over his head. Both men stopped before reaching him.

After a second of uneasy quiet, Merlin brought down one of his arms. He held his hand up. "Sorry, I-I need a moment."

When he got up, he did so slowly. He stood there, hesitating.

"Can you help me back?" He asked lowly.

Arthur went to him and placed his hand on his uninjured shoulder. Once they reached the cot, Merlin sat down with a huff.

"What do you want?"

Arthur wasn't sure what to say. "I came to see you."

"Clearly."

The blond felt flustered at that. "I saved you, you know."

Merlin sighed. "Yes, I remember."

"Well?" Arthur quipped impatiently.

"What? Do you want a thank you? It's not enough that you didn't notice I was gone, that you didn't find me for- for however long it's been? Now I have to thank you? I have to be quiet and good and grateful? That's what he wanted, you know. I'm tired of it! I get it, I'm just a servant, I have my place. Well, I quit. Why do I have to be less than human here when I can just leave and be whatever I want to be?"

A stunned silence followed the outburst. Merlin looked uncomfortable, self-aware after his outburst, and listening intently for a response as he couldn't see the reaction.

"I didn't know you felt that way."

Merlin felt a bit childish, but he was relieved that Arthur had listened. That Arthur heard him and knew how utterly exhausted and frayed he was.

"If you wish to leave, then that is your decision. I will not hold it against you."

The servant's brow furrowed. That wasn't really what he'd been saying. Of course he wouldn't leave. He couldn't, and he didn't want to anyway. Where would he go? No, he'd just said that because he was so frustrated with his position as a servant, or rather how the Count had likened it to being a slave and how worthless he was. Didn't Arthur see that?

There was a beat of silence. "Well, I shall take my leave."

"Don't," Merlin blurted.

"Sorry?" Arthur was confused. He glanced over at Gaius, who seemed just as thrown by the conversation.

"I'm not going to leave," The servant's hands were interlinked in his lap and he twisted his fingers anxiously. "I just meant... I don't know what I meant. I'm..." He laughed humorlessly. "I haven't talked in a long time."

Arthur nodded. "I understand." He was so diplomatic sometimes, such a good and caring king. Merlin felt a pang of sorrow at having been away from him for so long. He'd missed Arthur's friendship.

"I want to see," Merlin admitted. "I need... I can't do it alone." He gestured up toward the blindfold.

Arthur sat on the stool next to the cot, for once not bemoaning less than regal accommodations. "How can I help?"

"Gaius can..." Merlin gestured at the blindfold once more. "Can you just... be there?"

"Of course," Arthur said quietly, waiting for Gaius to stand behind the servant.

"Are you ready?" The physician asked. Merlin nodded. He tensed when his guardian began working at the cloth's knot. After a stretch of silence as Gaius loosened the tie, the knot was undone. The blindfold was pulled away slowly.

Even though his eyes were not open yet, Merlin squeezed them shut tight. The bit of indirect light through his eyelids was enough to make him wince.

"I ought to have warned you, your eyes will be very sensitive to light," Gaius mused. "Before you open them, you should gently wipe away any crust or substance."

Merlin lifted his hands and pressed his fingers to the corners of his eyes, rolling away the gunk that had gathered there in his months of captivity. Once it was all gone and Gaius had handed him a washcloth to clean his hands, he rubbed his eyes a bit. Then, he cracked one open, shutting it immediately.

"Too bright."

Gaius moved to cover the windows with cloths. When he returned to the cot, the light was muted to a much dimmer glow from the windows' edges and the candle burning at the table. Merlin tried again, opening his eyes a little then closing them. Soon enough, he was blinking quickly, then slower. His sight was blurry at first. He could see the form in front of him, with light hair and a red shirt. Merlin focused harder, rubbing his eyes again, and Arthur came into focus. The king was watching him intently. Merlin gave a smile of relief at being able to see once more. Arthur smiled back.

"Is your vision blurred or difficult to focus?" Gaius asked.

Merlin shook his head. "I can see." He said with a bit of a laugh. "I can see."